A Journey Back In Time

By Sandy Steele

The Spirit of Peoria paddlewheeler

Scott Spuler

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My husband, Cliff, and I have always loved riverboats, to the extent that we tear up every time we see the end of the movie “Showboat.” How can we not?! As the song “Old Man River” is being sung in the background, Ava Gardner is tearing up as she sees the Showboat slowly leaving port. As she comes out of the shadows, she blows a kiss — and that’s when we get our hankies out. We’ve found that these wonderful riverboats are more than just a boat ride, they’re a sentimental journey back to a time gone by.

We recently celebrated our 48th anniversary and spent a couple of days at the Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Ky, a unique and charming historical treasure tucked away in the state’s bluegrass region. To our delight, we discovered that Shaker Village also has a 115-passenger riverboat, the Dixie Belle, which cruises on the Kentucky River Palisades, a part of the river with high limestone cliffs and steep gorges. It passes under High Bridge, the highest railroad bridge that runs over a navigable stream in the U.S., and also along the oldest rock in Kentucky. The current is swift here, and water levels can go up and down 20 to 30 feet in one day.

The 65-foot-long paddlewheeler built in Cincinnati is the only fully narrated cruise on the river and has two cruises daily from April to October. During the May 2010 floods, the Dixie Belle went for the ride of her life after being knocked loose from her moorings by a floating concrete dock. Because of some quick thinking on the part of her two captains, Bruce and Richard Herring, they were able to catch the Dixie Belle a few miles downriver before she got to the Brooklyn Bridge, where Route 68 crosses the Kentucky River. Because the locks at the dam that she went over were shut, they had to move her overland to get her back home, which was a feat in itself since, she weighs 2,800 tons. Showing only a bent railing from her wild escapade, she didn’t waste any time in getting back to cruising the river again.

For all of you that are longing to go on a paddleboat ride, we’ve listed below some of the ones available in our Heartland area. Trust me, there’s nothing quite like the sound of water hitting the paddlewheel as you float down the river on one of these magnificent vessels. Just sit back, relax and take a ride back in time...

ALABAMA

The Harriott II is a beautiful, 19th-century riverboat docked alongside Montgomery’s RiverwalkAmphitheater on the Alabama River. She offers dinner with live entertainment and dancing.

ARKANSAS

The Arkansas Queen, now sporting a new calliope, is located at the North Shore Maritime Center in North Little Rock on the Arkansas River.

GEORGIA

The Savannah River Queen and Georgia Queen are patriotic red, white and blue triple-decker sternwheeler riverboats offering various cruises with live entertainment and an unforgettable view of Savannah.

ILLINOIS

The Belle of the Rock paddleboat located at historical Starved Rock State Park in Utica offers a 45- to 50-minute narrated cruise on the Illinois River.

The Spirit of Peoria is an authentic paddlewheeler that offers single-day trips as well as multiple-day trips on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, complete with live entertainment and storytelling.

INDIANA

The Dixie Sternwheeler is located on Lake Webster in North Webster and has daily cruises available. She was completely renovated and re-launched in 2010, and celebrated her 83rd birthday in July.

Steamboat fans will not want to miss the fascinating Howard Steamboat Museum is situated in the historic 1894 home of boat builders, the Howard family. Incorporating many design elements inspired by the ships they built, the museum celebrated 200 years of steamboating at a Steamboat Bicentennial Celebration in September 2011. The museum is on the banks of the Ohio River in Jefferson, Ind.

IOWA

The Celebration Belle sternwheeler, located on the Mississippi River, offers cruises from LeClaire, Dubuque and Muscatine, Iowa, as well as Moline, Ill. The company books up to three cruises a day and logs an estimated 8,000 miles a season.

The Pearl Button Paddlewheel, docked at Pearl City Station in Muscatine on the Mississippi River, is an authentic diesel-powered sidewheeler. In 1985, it was the first sidewheeler to be commissioned by the Coast Guard in 100 years.

The Spirit of Dubuque, a genuine dual paddlewheeler located on the Mississippi River, has been sharing the history and beauty of the Dubuque area for more than 20 years.

The Twilight Riverboat sternwheeler, a replica of the Victorian steamboats of yesteryear, offers overnight cruises on the Mississippi River from Dubuque to LeClaire.

KENTUCKY

The Belle of Cincinnati, the flagship of BB Riverboats, and the River Queen are docked at the Covington Landing in Newport on the Ohio River. BB Riverboats was awarded the exclusive rights for riverboat cruises in the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Belle of Louisville, the oldest operating river-style steamboat in the world, is located on the Ohio River out of Louisville. She’s preparing to celebrate her 100th birthday in October 2014.

As mentioned above, the Dixie Belle, Shaker Village’s riverboat, cruises along the scenic Kentucky River Palisades.